NoelC

Seems like it really is wasting time if a solution to the problem is already known. The spying is a much worse issue. Don't fall into the trap of endlessly debating something that's no longer an issue. It takes attention away from the bigger problems. -Noel

On my Win 7, 8.1, and 10 systems I vetted all the updates as best I could this week, then chose to install them all. Nothing new has shown up forcing inviting me to upgrade. -Noel

There's more truth than funny in jaclaz's comment. -Noel

Our heads. -Noel

I didn't mean it just started now, just that it still happens now. But thanks for the correction. -Noel

More info: It disappears when the window is not the active window.It happens with an alternate Theme Atlas.It happens only on ModernFrame windows, not regular windows.Happens with this week's Windows Updates. -Noel

Trying to rid the system of SearchUI will also break system protection (i.e., it will stop passing an SFC check). If you would like to continue to be a part of the Windows Update process that will matter. -Noel

What backtracking did they do with the "bleached out Office"? I had Office 365 for a year and a half, and saw no progress whatsoever. I am happy to say that I finally UPgraded to Office 2010 and have found it a real pleasure by comparison. And I no longer have to pay rent. -Noel

You would not normally use the KB3073930 tool to do the updates, just to check for them. Once you have vetted and optionally hidden updates, you'd want to use the normal Settings panel for downloading and installing the updates. -Noel

I think the "Malicious Software Removal Tool" normally only runs once. There are some Windows Defender updates this time around, though. It's possible it's doing a scan as a result of having received the new Defender software. That being said, I just received all the updates, rebooted, and don't see anything out of the ordinary, CPU usage-wise. -Noel

There's a bugfix in Windows Update that seems to apply to this today: KB3055041 My suggestion: Never consider Office 2013. I trashed my subscription to it (Office 365) and bought an Office 2010 license. It was like an upgrade to go back to the old version - no lie. -Noel

Thanks - I've already got it (assuming you mean Process Hacker 2). Great tool. I was using Resource Monitor to look at who's talking to what, but hadn't thought to look at Process Hacker's Network tab to identify the specific service. Great tip, thanks. There's no persistent connection in this case, though... It shows that iphlpsvc is occasionally popping out tiny UDP datagrams, and Process Hacker 2 doesn't give you a whole lot of info regarding the other end in that case. I'm not sure whether I have already effectively blocked this particular activity with a hosts entry to remap 157.56.106.184 to 0.0.0.0. I haven't had much experience with that form of entry before using the entries described at the top of this thread. It hasn't stopped the system seeing Windows Updates available. I also see that explorer.exe maintains an ongoing TCP connection with bn1wns2011403.wns.windows.com over which it sends a few bytes now and then. I wonder what that's about. -Noel

Sorry I didn't mention that. I always naturally uncheck all "automatic fix" boxes. -Noel

FYI, I just noticed one of the svchost.exe processes communicating regularly with 157.56.106.184, which traces to a Redmond, Washington physical address. Reverse DNS does not provide a name. A few hundred bytes every 15 to 25 seconds. This particular svchost process hosts these specific services: BITS, Background Intelligent Transfer Service Browser, Computer Browser CertPropSvc, Certificate Propagation DoSvc, Delivery Optimization gpsvc, Group Policy Client iphlpsvc, IP Helper LanmanServer, Server ProfSvc, User Profile Service Schedule, Task Scheduler SENS, System Event Notification Service SessionEnv, Remote Desktop Configuration ShellHWDetection, Shell Hardware Detection Themes, Themes UserManager, User Manager Winmgmt, Windows Management Instrumentation wuauserv, Windows Update -Noel

On my system, with every setting I can see in the PRIVACY settings panel set to "Off", the following keys under [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\DeviceAccess\Global] still have "Value" entries that remain set to "Allow": {21157C1F-2651-4CC1-90CA-1F28B02263F6} {7D7E8402-7C54-4821-A34E-AEEFD62DED93} {9D9E0118-1807-4F2E-96E4-2CE57142E196} {B1920448-233F-46CA-98E3-0839305F2141} {B19F89AF-E3EB-444B-8DEA-202575A71599} {BFA794E4-F964-4FDB-90F6-51056BFE4B44} {E6AD100E-5F4E-44CD-BE0F-2265D88D14F5} {E83AF229-8640-4D18-A213-E22675EBB2C3} Notably it's a little different than your list. Different devices detected and available for configuration, maybe? Beyond that, and possibly even more interesting... Who do all the security IDs under the DeviceAccess key belong to? Edit: I guess those are the Apps specifically allowed to access certain devices and resources. Edit 2: I've set everything to "Deny" on my test system, just to see what will happen. So far I haven't noticed any problems. -Noel

For me the Aero Glass for Win8.1 etc. watermark is visible and unblurred behind the Notification Panel when it is coming out or going back in, and all evidence of it disappears when the the panel is blurred (i.e., when all the way out). Not that these are serious problems, since the animation occurs over only a fraction of a second... -Noel

Those are great! Yes, mostly level-headed thoughts. Mine follow (maybe not level, who knows): It’s a Work in Progress Um, get used to it. In the words of someone wayyy back, intended to be a joke, but which has unfortunately turned out to be serious: "That's not a bug, that's a feature!" Seriously. Microsoft is now selling their process of "continuous updates" as an improvement. As though not having the OS feature set remain a given quantity for any length of time could possibly be a good thing for anyone other than the programmers at Microsoft. Does anyone really believe "continuous updates" will equate to "continuous improvement" (for anyone other than Microsoft)? Seriously? There Are Too Many Unanswered Questions It's nothing new - either you partner with Microsoft and ride their roller coaster with them, or you camp out on an old version. Support time frame? Who, besides enterprise, gives a **** about that? We're talking about the public here. Beyond that... The new normal: No documentation. Honestly, I blame Unix and its derivatives in all their forms for paving this path. Everyone else has gotten away with not documenting anything anywhere near to the level it needs to be (Apple because they're arrogant bastards, and everyone else because they're just lazy, undisciplined lumps), and Microsoft finally noticed. Now they don't feel as though they need to do the work either to succeed. It means everything is going to go to s*** and we won't be able to know why. Will there be a time when the demand for good documentation rises again? Who can say. Each Windows Update now comes with a whole page of boilerplate, with the closest thing to a description usually being "This update addresses issues in Windows". Someone needs to take a whip to all the children in Redmond cubicles who think that's enough. Not All Software/Hardware Will Work as Intended This isn't really anything new or unexpected. The author's question, "Who needs that hassle?" really alludes to his "Windows 7 Is Still Just as Good -- Or Better" point. In the past we've come to expect disruption of continuity as a necessary expense to get the improvements. Now, without improvements, he's saying, "why bother?" It's pretty hard to fault that logic. With every new system some hardware is left behind (ever have a scanner that worked on even two different versions of Windows?). And antivirus/security programs? Please. Any software that cuts deeply into a system is necessarily system-specific. Have you heard of any problems with the latest versions of the various AV packages that are touted Win 10 compatible not working in Win 10? All the reputable ones work fine. No one in their right mind should expect an old version to keep working. Applications? Not surprisingly, almost everything still works. Windows 10 is proving to be VERY compatible with past applications. Why? Because Microsoft apparently hasn't actually done much of anything at the core system level. The Start Menu Who cares? Two words: Classic Shell Better than anything Microsoft ever implemented, in any version. There’s Too Much Mobile Influence Have to agree wholeheartedly here. Design choices? I guess that makes sense if you consider a LACK OF DESIGN a design choice and want to blame the crap people have been willing to put up with on their tiny little mobile screens for it. Apps Tough to see the differentiation between some of these categories. Rubbish, knock-off apps, blah blah... All an indication that the Metro/Modern concept isn't anything special. Almost all of Microsoft's strategy revolves around their making a STUNNING improvement in application development, introducing a whole new paradigm of "code the way you like and run anywhere". Great idea, but the devil is in the details. Surprise, surprise, it takes more work than that to make real improvements in the state of the art. It takes complex development to create a powerful application - there's just no way around it. If it were easy it would already be done. Missing Features As we know around here, there are hacks to get back most of what Microsoft is trying to leave behind. But it's more difficult than ever, and the "continuous updates" process is only going to serve to make it less feasible to continue the practice. This is possibly the most alarming thing about Windows 10. From Microsoft's perspective, they want to make money re-inventing all that has come before. It's difficult to invent new things now that advance the state of the art. Might as well keep all the customers locked in and just make them pay again and again for the same things. Windows 7 Is Still Just as Good -- Or Better We all understand what he means, but... Not really. As one who tweaked and augmented Win 8.1 into a system that (after years of use I can confidently say) has turned out to be better (even if only subtly so) than 7, I can honestly say that there have been improvements that have lead to a better computing experience for me. Are there such improvements in 10? I can't say a strong yes yet nor point to any in particular as I have too little experience so far with Win 10. But probably there are or will be. New device support, bug fixes (not that I've personally seen too many system bugs in the past 5 years). What Windows 10 isn't - right now - is prettier, faster, or substantially more stable. Seems like Microsoft should have done at least ONE THING people could point to and say, "It has THAT, so clearly it's better". That they didn't (couldn't?) speaks volumes. Sorry, but running Modern Apps in (poorly integrated) windows on the desktop just isn't that something special. Upgrades Will Be Forced on You This is kind of being overly hyped up. As expected, tools and methods for rationally managing updates - for those who have the wherewithal to do so - are already starting to appear. It's just another realm in which the user needs to tweak and augment Windows to make it perform better. Should we HAVE to do that? Absolutely not. But it is what it is. It’s Still Schizophrenic Assuming the author is equating "Dissociative Identity Disorder (Multiple Personality Disorder)" with Schizophrenia - which it is not - then he's absolutely right. The New Normal is that it is somehow okay for things NOT to be integrated. Who said that's good enough? But we'd better get over expecting otherwise. Microsoft may be thinking otherwise - that in the next 10 to 20 years they'll slowly grow all the Apps back into a cohesive, integrated whole by polishing away at the rough edges. Problem is, technically speaking integration is something that takes a Real Plan and cannot be achieved by accident - and most certainly not by making everything look flat and plain and just ignoring UX standards. Such things were once at the core of Microsoft's plan, but they're gone now and are not coming back any time soon. So... Should we accept what is and make the best of it, or just step back and wait... Short term? Hold off. Give Win 10 a few months at least to mature. Mid term? ??? Long term? ??? -Noel

A firewall entry would only make it impossible for Search to reach the Internet; it would not stop it running. I'm also still looking for a way to prevent SearchUI.exe from running entirely, but so far no luck. There are a number of ways Microsoft could have started SearchUI, for example as a service or even the Task Scheduler, but noooo, they chose to code it into Windows in some hidden fashion, as they don't want us disabling it. As far as they're concerned, our computer resources are strictly here to run their OS, not to do anything else. -Noel

Yes, that's true. For me that's not an issue as I prefer my Taskbar and contents to be small and the system stuff to keep out of the way of the real work. -Noel

Unfortunately, no, it's all too real. In all seriousness, you cannot fight the system. As a smart, conscientious individual armed with more information and understanding than most, you can only game the system, keeping your head down and hoping you aren't noticed as you "opt out" of as many of the bad parts as you can, while at the same time trying to reap the benefits of the (remaining, receding) good parts. It's in times like these that I thank my stars I have the high tech training and lifetime experience to understand much of what's going on, though to be completely honest at this point it's all moving at a pace so fast that no one can keep up with it all. Imagine people for whom all this high tech stuff is just so much magic. -Noel

Did you run the aforementioned KB3073930 update hiding tool? Did it show the driver as available for installation? If so, what happened when you hid that update? -Noel

You're welcome. Not long ago I ran across, on the web, a "style guide" that was published by Microsoft for designing Windows applications some years ago - possibly around the time of XP or Vista, I'm not sure. But it was both very complete and very explicit, really nailing down everything from look and feel on the screen to how to set up controls. I think it may have been somewhere under here: https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/ff657751(v=vs.85).aspx How something like that could just be thrown out the window by Microsoft... Clearly it is an act being done on purpose. -Noel

Without looking into your crash dump, I suggest that you may have a malfunctioning Shell Extension. Since the problem is reproducible, one way to diagnose and ultimately correct such problems is to run the freeware program Shell Extensions Viewer (ShellExView) by NirSoft (you can find it on the web). You'll want to systematically disable non-Microsoft shell extensions, log off/on, and test. Use a binary process (e.g., disable half, and test, then if the problem is corrected, re-enable half of what you disabled, then test, and repeat until you've nailed it down to one or several offending Shell Extensions, which you can then permanently disable. Once you have a good idea what package is causing the problem, you can go out on the web and look for an update to it that's Win 10 compatible. Good luck. -Noel

I see the same as you. You don't have a specific problem. Many of the posts in this forum are people discussing ways to improve the UX [lack of] theme. The extensive set of tweaks required to make a Win 8.1 system more integrated haven't yet been developed/polished for Win 10. It may never be possible to do so, assuming Microsoft keeps the target moving like never before (something they've promised to do). At this point most folks are now conditioned to be happy to have a context menu at all. Welcome to 2015. I see no reason any longer to expect that multiple applications should share the same theme. At one time that was deemed important, but no longer is that true. To be brutally honest, an "integrating" desktop that strove for a unified usability standard and a consistent look and feel, was last important around the time of early Windows 7. Since then Microsoft has led the charge against integration with such innovations as ribbons in some windows, borderless applications like Office and Visual Studio, and now "Modern" Apps. You know that they could have made the chrome around Modern Apps match the rest of the theme if they'd wanted to. Since Windows 7 active DISintegration has been - and quite clearly still is - the rule. And we're supposed to like it. At the very least we're not supposed to notice. You've broken that rule by noticing. Therefore you will be labeled a hater. There are quite clearly folks at Microsoft who believe that dropping all the way back to simple text on flat rectangles of color is a necessary "return point", after which they feel they can develop the "next big thing". And even color is now falling out of favor and text rendering has become inconsistent. The golden age is gone. Whether there will be a platinum age in 20 years remains to be seen. -Noel

Short answer: You wouldn't. And it's not just a dozen/dozen. It's more like 20 extra programs and 100 tweaks. Actually, I haven't consolidated all my notes yet, but I think it's a fair bit more than 100 now. Once you have done all that you end up with a system that's current, supported, and maybe - if you squint and try real hard - gives a little bit more value than its predecessors. Trouble is, the value proposition is going to change. It's going to become harder and harder to use an older system because slowly, kicking and screaming, the world will be dragged into the future - and sadly there's very little we can do about it. Much the same as the fact that very few of us could build our own car, most folks couldn't possibly build their own computer operating system. -Noel